Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – February 23, 2015

Last week in the North Carolina General Assembly:

We had less activity than normal due to the weather in the Raleigh area, we had “no-vote” sessions in the House of Representatives and few votes in the Senate, and we were able to put more work “behind the scenes” into some of the bills we hope to file and pass.

Last week is being referred to by some as the “frozen week”.  The ice, snow, sleet, and freezing rain that hit the Triangle area Monday evening created a frozen world all day Tuesday in most neighborhoods and dangerous black ice even on the main roads. Many businesses were closed at least a day, and schools closed much of the week.  Most of the government activity involved only the emergency management of the Governor, Highway Patrol, and NC Department of Transportation. Utility crews also did a great job of restoring power to affected areas. Most other activity was “frozen” in place.

Hearing about the weather that was to move in late Monday, I chose to travel to Raleigh early in the afternoon, so I would be ready to go to work as soon as possible.  I was able to arrive before the storm moved in, able to get checked into the hotel, and spend much more time trapped there than I liked. Since my computer and phone are now totally mobile, so I was able to accomplish a lot in spite of the ice.  All committees were cancelled Tuesday, and most were cancelled the rest of the week.

When we were able to get to work Wednesday, most of the meetings were informal and hastily scheduled to discuss issues and work on bills that we hope to file and move successfully through the process starting the next two weeks.  Some of them involve education, transportation, and law enforcement issues.  Others are local or deal with specific issues of our county and towns.  It’s this “behind the scenes” work that can sometimes make a better bill, one that can accomplish the intended purpose and pass the House and Senate.

The pace of bill filing has been unusually slow, but I expect it to pick up dramatically this week.  By now, I would have guessed we would have around 300 bills filed in the House, rather than 100.  Most long sessions we have over a thousand bills filed the first few months.

Spring is coming, and I also expect the General Assembly to heat up.